Watchcase-spring.



lG.. F. GLOW. WATGHGASE SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED APB.. 28, 1914.

1, 1 1 5,783. Patented Nov. 3, 19114.

@9H/memo THE NoRR/s PETERS C0., PHUTOJJTHO., wASHlNGrON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. GLOW, OF HUDSON, NEW YORK.

WATCHCASE-SPR-ING.

17 '0 all LU/wm it may concern Be it known that I, Gnoncn E. CLow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hudson, in the county of Columbia and State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lll/'atcl case-Springs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to catch and case springs for watches, lockets and other ar ticles of siniilarl construction.

In carrying out my invention I propose to construct an article of this character which will ol viate the wear incident to the closing of the lid or cover of the case without requiring the inward pressure on the stein to move the catch from the path of the inner end of the cover.

l also aim to provide a device of this character wherein the lip of the catch member will be sustained out of the path of engagement with the rim of the lid or cover as long as the case spring engages the said lid to sustain the same in an open position, but which will permit the catch moving to engage with the rim of the cover only after the lid has been closed upon the case.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide a catch member and a case spring, each of which cooperate in such a manner as to sustain the spring inoperative when the catch is in operative position and to retain the catch out of operative position when the spring engages with the lid to swing and hold the lid open.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a case spring with means which cooperate with a catch to permit the spring opening the lid of a casing and to limit the outward movement of the lid in an opening direction, and to lock the lid in such open position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will be automatic in operation; which shall embody the desirable features of simplicity and cheapness of construction; ease of application and e'liiciency and accuracy in operation.

With the above objects in view, and others which will appear as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed, the improvement resides in the construction, combination and operative arrangement of parts set forth in the following description and fall ing within the scope of the appended claims.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led April 28, 1914.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914. serial No. 834,898.

In the accompanying` drawing: Figure l is a longitudinal section of a watch case, showing the application of the invention, Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, the lid of the case being closed, Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. l with the lid swung to its open position, F ig. et is a perspective Aview showing features of construction of the bracket and catch member, Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the locking connection between the case spring and .catch member, the parts appearing in engaging position, and Fig. 6 is a view similar to E 5, showing the parts in releasing position.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the numeral l designates the case of the watch or locket, which has hingedly secured thereto a lid or cover 2, and which is provided with the pendant 3 and stem 4:, the above being well known parts of a watch or locket case, and are illustrated to show the application of the invention.

Secured within the case l approximately niedially between the stem a and the hinge of the lid 2, and arranged adjacent to the rim of the case is a bracket 5, the saine including a flange 6 which is provided with openings through which pass securing members 7. The bracket at its end nearest the post et is centrally slotted to provide the same with an upper and lower extending arm 8 and 9 respectively, and the ends of the said arms are preferably rounded.

The numeral l0 designates the catch meinber which has one of its ends fo 1med with an outward longitudinally extending projecting portion providing a lip 1l which is adapted to engage with the flange or lip 12 provided upon the lid or cover 2, to sustain the said cover closed upon the case. The catch member is preferably constructed from a band of metal, such as tempered steel, and conforms in shape with the rounded rim of the case l, and the saine is provided with an opening l2, below its lip ll, through which the reduced end 13 of the stem 4: projects. The opposite end of the member l0 is formed with a reduced portion is, and the shoulders provided between the said member and its reduced portion la are preferably concaved, as at 1G, so that the same will engage with the rounded ends of the arms 8 and 9, the reduced portion being arranged within the slot or bifurcation between the said arms.

Irl

The numeral 14 designates a spring which may be secured to the member 10 at a suitable distance from its shoulder 16, or which may be connected with the rim of the case to exert a pressure upon the member 10 to swing the end thereof provided with the lip 11 outwardly from the rim of the case and from the flange of the lid with which it engages when the said lid is closed upon the case.

The numeral 17 indicates the case spring. This member includes a round sheet of flat material, conforming vto the inner contour of the rim of the case 1, and has, what l will term, its inner end, provided with a reduced, longitudinally extending tongue 1S which is disposed between the arms 8 and 9 and frictionally contacts with the portion 14 of the catch member 10. The opposite end of the case spring 17 is formed with an outturned curved lip 19 which contacts with the inner face of the lid at its hinged connection with the case 1, and which is adapted to eX- ert a pressure thereon to swing the said lid to an open position when the lip 11 has been brought out of engagement with the flange upon the lid or cover ofthe casing. The member 17 is, of course, constructed of spring steel, and is, from its end provided with the lip 19, slotted longitudinally fron a point near the lower or inner edge of the said member 17, to provide the same with a comparatively weak spring 20, the lower or outer corner of the said spring being formed with an angular extension 21 which bears upon the inner face of the case 1.

The numeral 22 designates a removable element which passes through the member 17 to theV rear of its tongue 18 and enters the bracket 4 to pivotally secure the said member to the bracket. By such arrangement it will be understood that the spring 21 exerting a tension against the inner face of the case will move the vcase spring upwardly or outwardly upon its pivot 22, which movement swings its tongue 1 downwardly partially uncovering` the slot in the bracket between the arms S and ,L thereof. The tongue 18 is provided with an inwardly extending pin or lug 23, while the reduced portion 14 of the catch member 10 is formed with an upper comparatively deep depression 24 and with a lower comparatively shallow depression 25. The upper wall prfovided by the depression 25 preferably inclines toward the depression 24, the reason for which arrangement will now be de` scribed.

We will assume that the lid 2 is closed upon the case 1, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The lip 11 is in engagement with the inturned flange or lip 12 of the lid 2, and the said lid has compressed the outer portion of the case spring 17, forcing the portion thereof provided with the lip 19 toward the spring proper 20. In such position the pin or stud 23 is arranged within the deep depression 24 of the portion 14 of the member 10. Now, we will suppose that the post 4 has been moved, by pressure, inwardly of the case 1. The shoulder between the reduced portion. 13 and the stem proper will contact with the inner face o-f the member 10 forcing the lip 11 thereof out of engagement with the flange or lip 12 of the lid 2. Such movement swings the catch 10 from what may be termed the hinged engag-ement of its shoulder 16 with the rounded ends of the arms 5, against the pressure of the spring 14, and causing the reduced portion or tongue 14 to move inwardly of the bracket and withdrawing the pin or stud 23 from' the deep depression 24, rlhe outer portion of the member 17 provided with the lip 19 will be swung upwardly by the spring 2O from its pivot arranging the stud 23 within the path of engagement wi th the shallmv channel 25 of the end 14 of the member 10, which member has not been swung to again return its reduced end to between the arms 8 and 9 of the bracket. The engagement of the pin or stud 23 within the shallow depression 25 prevents the lip 11 from reaching an engaging position with relation to the lip or flange of the lid 2, while in the meantime the lip 19 of the member 17 acting upon the lid 2 has swung the .said lid to its open position and has exerted its full tension thereon and is held in such position by the engagement of the nin or stud 23 within the shallow depression Now, when it is desired to close the lid 2, the portion thereof adjacent its end will contact with the lip 19, forcing the same toward the spring 20 until the said lid is almost entirely closed upon the case. A still further movement of the lid, in a closing direction, will cause the member 17 to swing upon its pivot, forcing the stud or pin 13 out of engagement with the shallow depression 25, permitting the same to travel upon the outer face of the reduced portion or tongue 14 of the member 1G, and position the said stud or pin directly in the path of the deep depression 24 when the lid has been fully closed upon the case. V7 hen the parts are thus arranged the spring 14 will swing the member 10 to bring its lip 11 into engagement with the lip or flange 12 of the lid and cause the pin o r stud 23 to enter the deep depression 24.

From the above description, taken in connection with the drawing, it is thought that the construction and arrangement of parts as well as the operation thereof will be apparent without further detaileddescription.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A case having a hinged lid, a spring for swinging the lid to an open position, a

catch for sustaining the lid in closed position, and co-engaging means between the spring and catch for sustaining the catch inoperative when the lid is rotated.

2. A case having a hinged lid, a spring tor swinging the lid to an open position, a catch for sustaining the lid in a closed position, means arranged between the spring and catch for sustaining either the spring or catch in an inoperative position.

3. A case having a hinged lid, spring means for swinging the lid to an open position, a catch member engaging the lid when the same is in a closed position, and coacting means between the catch and the spring means for sustaining one of the said members inactive when the second member is active.

t. A case having a hinged lid, means comprising a catch for latching the lid closed upon the casing, means comprising a spring for swinging the lid to an open position, and interengaging members between the catch and spring for sustaining a catch inactive while the spring is active or the spring inactive when the catch is active.

5. A case having a hinged lid, means comprising a catch for sustaining the lid closed upon the case, means including a spring tor swinging the lid open, a locking connection between the catch and spring for sustaining the spring inactive, means for operating the catch to release the lock and permit of the actuation of the spring, and means upon the spring and co-acting with the catch for sustaining the catch in an inoperative position when the lid is open.

(5. A case having a hinged lid, a catch member for the lid and means for actuating the catch, a case-spring contactingwith the lid and adapted to move the same to an open position and sustaining the catch member out of engaging position when the actuating mechanism of the catch member has been operated.

7. A case having a hinged lid, a spring catch for sustaining the lid closed upon the case, a case-spring engaging with the lid and having a locking engagement with the catch, means for operating the catch to bring the same out of engagement with the lid and to release the case-spring to permit the opening of the lid, and means between the catch and spring for latching the catch and hold the same out of the path oi' engagement with the lid.

8. A case having a hinged lid, a spring pressed hinged catch member for engaging the lid to sustain the saine closed upon the case, a pivoted member engaging with the lid, said member including a spring adapted to torce the same against the lid to move the said lid to an open position, an interlocking engagement between the said meniber and the catch, means for actuating the catch to swing the same out of engagement with the spring member and to permit ot' the actuation of the spring of the said member to swing the same upon its pivot to open the lid, and a contacting engagement between the said spring member and the catch for sustaining the catch out of the path or' contact with the lid until after the said lid has been closed upon the case.

9. A ease having a hinged lid, a slotted bracket within the case, a catch member for the lid having a reduced portion arranged within the slot of the bracket and having a ulcrum engagement with the ends of the arms provided by the slot in the bracket, the reduced portion having a deep depression and a shallow depression, a spring for torcing the catch member in one direction, a case-spring pivoted to the bracket and having a tongue which overlies the reduced portion of the catch member, a stud upon the tongue to engage in either of the depressions of the catch member, said case-spring having one of its ends formed with a lip which contacts with the lid and being provided with a spring disposed below its lip and contacting with the case.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. CLOV. ldlitnesses:

FRANK KENT, WILLIAM GRAF.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C." 

